From LET rookie to Solheim Cup referee: Elizabeth Mallett's second act

At Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands earlier this month, Elizabeth Mallett became the first female referee to represent the DP World Tour at a Solheim Cup, according to a feature by Carly Cummins in Golf Monthly. In 2017 Mallett, now 32 and from the Birmingham area, was a rookie on the Ladies European Tour. She reached Bernardus by giving up tournament golf, taking a job in a DP World Tour office and working through The R&A’s referee qualifications to the top level.

A prodigy from Sutton Coldfield

Mallett picked up her first club at the age of nine in an American Golf store, and later worked at the company’s Sutton Coldfield branch, as Golf Business News reported when the retailer made her its first Tour ambassador in 2017.

She won her first national title at 12 and represented England from the age of 10 to 21. She won the English Girls’ title in 2009 and again in 2010, and in 2012 took the individual title at the European Girls’ Team Championships, shooting a 64 that was reported as the lowest round in the event’s history.

From there she crossed the Atlantic to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned All-American honours and captained the Tar Heels’ NCAA Division I team in 2015 and 2016. In the autumn of 2013, as a sophomore, she was the only Tar Heel to post an under-par round at the NCAA Fall Preview, a closing 69, according to the university’s match report.

From the tournament office to Level 4

After three seasons on the Ladies European Tour, Mallett stepped away from tournament golf, moved to the operations side of tournaments and joined the DP World Tour as a tournament office manager and recorder, putting her communications degree to work behind the scenes of professional events, according to Golf Monthly.

Colleagues on tour encouraged her to take refereeing seriously, and she went on to achieve The R&A’s Level 4 referee qualification, the top tier of the governing body’s four-level Rules Education programme.

When a team of European Tour Group referees became the first to earn the Level 4 Advanced Referee Qualification, announced in early 2023, The R&A explained that candidates are assessed on seven practical competencies: refereeing, course marking, course set-up, pace-of-play management, course notes, local rules, and handling the suspension and resumption of play.

Looking back on the switch from player to official, Mallett told Golf Monthly: “It was the best decision I ever made.”

Inside the ropes at Bernardus

The 2026 Solheim Cup was played from 11 to 13 September at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, North Brabant. Anna Nordqvist’s European side beat Angela Stanford’s Americans 15–13, winning the Sunday singles 7–5 to take back the trophy.

Mallett was part of the refereeing team for the week. On Sunday she walked with the singles match between Sweden’s Maja Stark and America’s Lindy Duncan, which Duncan won 3 and 1, as Golf.com reported. Golf Monthly reports that Mallett described the atmosphere as electric, comparable only to the majors, and spoke of how special it was to experience the event first-hand while walking with the players.

The R&A leadership programme, and a Ryder Cup ambition

This autumn Mallett graduated from The R&A’s Women in Golf Leadership programme. The R&A launched its leadership programmes in 2018 to increase the number of women in mid-to-senior positions in golf organisations, and by late 2023 some 140 women from 34 countries had completed them.

She hopes to referee at a Ryder Cup in the future, according to Golf Monthly.

Sources

• Golf Monthly: ‘It Was The Best Decision I Ever Made’ – How One Ex-LET Pro Rebuilt Her Career To Make Solheim Cup History
• Golf Business News: American Golf appoints Tour ambassador
• University of North Carolina Athletics: women’s golf report, September 2013
• The R&A: European Tour Group referees earn new R&A Rules qualification
• The R&A: Rise and Aspire conference celebrates five years of the Women in Golf Leadership Programme
• Golf.com: Europe reclaims Solheim Cup with dominant Sunday singles performance
• Wikipedia: 2026 Solheim Cup